Bikes

We've finally gotten our bikes out of the garage to ride together. Of course, the boys' bikes have been out and used, but this was the first time we actually did a bike ride as a family. Colton loved the trailer on my bike and eagerly climbed in. Spencer was the repairman/tire inflator. He has some skills in repairing and fixing things, which comes in quite handy.

After the bike ride, Colton has since climbed in the trailer, ready for a ride. It will be a while before we do it again, because my bike or the trailer had issues with the tires and it was like I was riding on flat tires, dragging the trailer. It was very difficult, but Eric also had the difficult time with helping Kaylen pedal the whole mile. He ended up riding his bike and pulling Kaylen beside him because her legs were just too tired to loop around the block (she was actually on the bike, not the Dora Hot Wheels).

Walt Disney World - Coming Home

The trip was fantastic. We were able to experience so much together as a family. It was great!

However, by the end of the week, I was missing the kids just slightly. So I was excited to get home to them. We were greeted by a clean house, worn out babysitters, and a mohawked baby.

Wordless Wednesday: A Family Snapshot

Adventures in Ohio: Extra Pictures

We had such a fun time in Ohio this year. It was great to be around Eric's family. His grandparents definitely spoiled us while we were there. Everything was pretty low-key, but it was so nice to have some time to relax. We went on walks, played outside, played games, swam, explored a little, and went shopping. The kids' favorite part of the trip, besides seeing their grandparents was spending time with Eric's cousins (who are actually our kids' ages).

Colton, crawling down a hill towards the golf course

Lindsey, being goofy

Spencer, Colton, and Red (Great Grandma)

Our family in front of the Ohio Temple

Colton at Steak 'n Shake (Eric's favorite restaurant)

Kaylen taking advantage of the hiding cubbies in the ultra cool minivan

Logan styling Kaylen's hair (he was so thoughtful and gentle)

Adventures in Ohio: Caverns

We've been to caverns before and have enjoyed them (except for Lindsey in Carlsbad). So we decided to go to Ohio Caverns since we haven't been to them before. The drive though the open green country was nice, even with Eric behind the wheel. Before our cave tour started, the kids played around on the grass and panned for gold. Inside the caverns, we saw some pretty cool formations. The kids were all very good and didn't touch anything. Colton liked to point to the stalatites. We had been on a search before we left for a baby carrier because strollers weren't allowed in the cave. We found one, only to find out just a little bit into the tour that Colton didn't like the carrier, the dark, or anyone else besides me. My arms got a workout from holding that little guy throughout the caverns.

We ended up being the last tour of the day, so we were the only ones in our group with our own personal tour guides. We had a fun time seeing the caverns. I was pretty amazed by them because things looked so cool.

Adventures in Ohio: The River

As a fun stopping point in the middle of shopping (I think that's what we were doing), we decided to make a stop at the river. We walked down the hill to the river. It was a beautiful view, albeit stinky according to Lindsey (she couldn't continue because it stunk too bad and went back to the car). We just hung out by the river, enjoying the scenery and tossing rocks into the water (and nearly missing each other's heads). Colton was completely happy sitting on the rocks, occasionally tasting one of them.

Adventures in Ohio: Anthony Thomas

This was one of our smaller adventures, but it was the yummiest, by far! There is a candy factory, Anthony-Thomas, that is just a few minutes away from G & G's house. We've always driven past it, and have eaten Buckeyes from there, but never been to the factory. Eric discovered that we could take a tour of the chocolate factory. So, we headed there.

We perused the candy shop, eyeing the ginormous Buckeye, until our tour started. We walked on the catwalks, above the machines and melted chocolate. It was fun to see how some of the individual chocolates were made. Nobody found any humor in me singing, "oompa loompa doompa dee doo." After the end of the tour we each got a Buckeye and picked out some things from the candy store - there's nothing like 5 kids loose in a candy store!

Getting to Ohio Not Non-Stop

Oh. my. gosh.

This has to be on the top of my "worst travel experiences" list. This ranks right up there with getting stuck in Hawaii (our flight got cancelled, the airlines didn't care if we got re-booked, and running through the airport at 1:00 in the morning to try to catch our flight, kids in tow) and our last flight to London (I took sleeping medicine just as we took off from Charlotte, only to be woken early because we were landing in Philly to change planes, resulting in a vomiting reaction to the medication while on a tour in London because I didn't get the sleep needed for the medicine).

Anyways, so we decided that we'd go to Ohio. It was fairly last minute, so the non-stop tickets weren't available or at a good price, so we got tickets stopping in Chicago. Our flight went great to Chicago. When we got off the plane, our first clue should have been all the people lined up everywhere, along the moving walkways, walls, and anywhere else. All the flights leaving Chicago had been delayed due to weather. We were told our flight was delayed by two hours. We had a leisurely dinner at the airport with the kids. Then we explored the airport as much as we could, trying to kill some time. There wasn't much to do in the airport. I think the highlight of the airport were the Blues Brothers statues. We sat and waited. We waited forever. Eric pulled up on his phone the satellite weather which showed two huge storm systems over Chicago. There was tons of thunder and lightening. What started as a two hour delay, turned into a five hour delay. Lightening was detected less than three miles from the airport, so that was a major issue and created a further delay. The kids were super good. Colton crawled around on the yucky floor. Kaylen and I walked the airport, with Colton in the stroller. I raced her walking while she ran on the moving walkway. I do have to say, that I love ipods and Nintendo DS. They saved me.

We finally got on the plane. It had to have been THE SCARIEST flight I have ever been on. I don't get scared on planes, but on this one, my hands were sweating the whole time (this happens when I'm nervous). We took off between the two storms. It was the shakiest and bumpiest ride I have ever had in a plane. We could hear the plane engine at full blast, and then it would stop and we would start to sink. This was repetitious. The kids were so tired by the time we got on the plane, that they slept through it (except Lindsey and Spencer). We finally got to Columbus at 3:45 am. Eric's grandparents and mom were awesome to pick us up. The rental car places were all closed, so we couldn't get our super-cool minivan until Monday.

This was pretty crazy, and deserved it's own post because it was so bad.

watching the rain and lightening


the Blues Brothers


not too clear of a picture, but that's pretty much how it all looked from the plane's window

Colton, sleeping through all the bumps and drops

Sizzlin' Saturday at the Museum

One of our summer traditions is to take advantage of "Sizzlin' Saturdays," at a museum downtown. I've taken the kids mostly every summer, since I was pregnant with Kaylen. The musem is free, there are crafts for the kids, there are special performances, and there is free ice cream. It's a fun activity to go to. I actually talked Eric into going with us, which he didn't enjoy too much. Maybe if we could have seen the hoop dancers, he would have liked it more. (The hoop dancers didn't perform this year. They are one of my favorites.) It ended up being a fun family memory, even if we did have to eat our lunch in the car on the way home and even if there are still beads rolling around in the back of the yukon from Kaylen's unfinished necklace. : )